On Wed, Feb 25, 2004 at 09:11:07AM -0500, Simon Law wrote:
> We believe that this licence is not DFSG-free. and we want X-Oz
> Technologies to address the problems presented. We recommend avoiding
> this licence at present.
If I said somewhere that the X-Oz and XFree86 1.1 licenses are
"identical", I need to retract that. They are not *quite* identical.
Here's how the X-Oz and XFree86 1.1 licenses differ:
A) The proper names used to identify the copyright holder(s) were
changed.
B) The "clause 2 of the BSD license" clause (redistributions of binaries)
is no longer identical to the BSD license, but increased in strength
to mandate where, specifically, "the above copyright notice, this list
of conditions and following dislcaimer" must appear in the
"documentation and/or other materials".
C) The mandatory-acknowledgement clause new to the X-Oz license, a
cousin of the BSD advertising clause, is similarly increased in
strength; the exact acknowledgement language requires end-user
documentation to print this acknowledgement clause specifically
wherever other acknowledgements are found.
D) In the mandatory-acknowledgement clause, the language "if and
wherever...[acknowledgements]...normally appear" has been replaced
with "in the same form and location as other".
A) is not an issue. B) and C) are even more intrusive and contaminative
even of works of documentation that are wholly independently authored
and copyrighted. The impact of D) is not clear to me, and it may not
make any real difference.
The fundamental calculus has not changed, in my opinion. Both licenses
presume to tell you what you must do with your copyrighted work[1], and
to the extent that this is enforceable by copyright law, it violates
DFSG 9. If these restrictions are not enforceable by copyright law,
then it should be asy to persuade the promulgator of this license to
remove this language. Unfortunately, this attempt has been tried and
failed by multiple parties.
$ wdiff x-oz_license.txt xfree86_1.1_license.txt
Copyright [-2003 by David H. Dawes.
Copyright 2003 by X-Oz Technologies.-] {+(C) 1994-2004 The XFree86 Project, Inc.+}
All rights reserved.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
and/or other materials provided with the [-distribution.-] {+distribution, and in the same place
and form as other copyright, license and disclaimer information.+}
3. The end-user documentation included with the redistribution, if any,
must include the following acknowledgment: "This product includes software
developed by [-X-Oz Technologies (http://www.x-oz.com/)."-] {+The XFree86 Project, Inc (http://www.xfree86.org/) and its
contributors", in the same place and form as other third-party
acknowledgments.+} Alternately, this acknowledgment may appear in the
software itself, [-if-] {+in the same form+} and [-wherever-] {+location as other+} such third-party [-acknowledgments normally appear.-]
{+acknowledgments.+}
4. Except as contained in this notice, the name of [-X-Oz Technologies-] {+The XFree86 Project,
Inc+} shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use
or other dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from [-X-Oz
Technologies.-]
{+The XFree86 Project, Inc.+}
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL [-X-OZ
TECHNOLOGIES-] {+THE
XFREE86 PROJECT, INC+} OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
[1] Interestingly, this charge is frequently levied against the GNU GPL
by some of its critics, some of whom also defend the new XFree86 1.1
license.[2]
[2] http://www.opengroup.org/sophocles/show_mail.tpl?source=L&listname=xorg_foundation&id=100
--
G. Branden Robinson | America is at that awkward stage.
Debian GNU/Linux | It's too late to work within the
branden@debian.org | system, but too early to shoot the
http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | bastards. -- Claire Wolfe
Copyright 2003 by David H. Dawes. Copyright 2003 by X-Oz Technologies. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 3. The end-user documentation included with the redistribution, if any, must include the following acknowledgment: "This product includes software developed by X-Oz Technologies (http://www.x-oz.com/)." Alternately, this acknowledgment may appear in the software itself, if and wherever such third-party acknowledgments normally appear. 4. Except as contained in this notice, the name of X-Oz Technologies shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from X-Oz Technologies. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL X-OZ TECHNOLOGIES OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Copyright (C) 1994-2004 The XFree86 Project, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution, and in the same place and form as other copyright, license and disclaimer information. 3. The end-user documentation included with the redistribution, if any, must include the following acknowledgment: "This product includes software developed by The XFree86 Project, Inc (http://www.xfree86.org/) and its contributors", in the same place and form as other third-party acknowledgments. Alternately, this acknowledgment may appear in the software itself, in the same form and location as other such third-party acknowledgments. 4. Except as contained in this notice, the name of The XFree86 Project, Inc shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from The XFree86 Project, Inc. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE XFREE86 PROJECT, INC OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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